This will be my last post regarding the subject of this new online virtual world venture since I don't feel the need to explain myself further, or go back and forth with others who may not agree. There have been some attacking statements between parties because each party had a different point of view (This post and previous post). Initially, I wanted to respond to some statements with attacking statements right back, but decided to take a few steps back (hours and day) to think about my response. This new online virtual world venture maybe a legitimate business and only time will tell, but numerous times I have requested people move forward cautiously. Don't consider it a complete scam until people can look further into the legitimacy of this virtual world. If the person who registered the domain is truly the same developer I have researched online then they are a well established person in the developer community. Like many of you vmk'ers here I am hoping this moves forward with no apparent issues as I also loved Virtual Magic Kingdom. It gave me plenty of stress relief from work, and brought me to place I truly enjoy but cannot visit everyday (Walt Diseny World). Here are some precautions I would have taken although registration is now closed:
(A) If your "vmk character name/title" within the game is the same as your "account name" utilized to logon then I recommend using some other title registering for this new online virtual world. Although, Your password is not given just a safety precaution for you. The other person who cannot logon I believe is just a coincidence especially since so many others can still logon. They should contact disney and state their account has been wrongfully terminated...This happened with me and Disney Movie Rewards not too long ago, where they terminated many of my accounts but re-established them after long discussions with technical support. This took many phone calls by the way until I reached the right person.
(B) If your "email address" is the same as your "account name" I recommend creating another email account on a website like google/yahoo/etc. Although, Once again your password is not given just another safety precaution especially since most of you utilize your email address for other disney affiliate sites and elsewhere. I have numerous reasons why you shouldn't utilize your everyday email listed below, so I won't repeat that information again here.
There are many reasons why I had concerns about this new online virtual world which I didn't get into full length discussions yesterday. Sorry to quote Aengus here but its short and sweet "Our main concern at the moment is not that anyone tried to steal anyones password. I just think skepticism is warranted for a site to pop up, look like vmk, smell like vmk, but NOT be vmk. Lets see how Disney feels about their patents being clearly violated before we all jump on board". Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and also entitled to make their own decisions regarding this new online world venture. As previously stated numerous times please use caution, and here are some of my reasons why I am personally cautious about this new online virtual world venture:
(1) There was no legitimate business name anywhere, especially after I requested this information on numerous posts. What does this allow us to do? It allows for people to investigate further the legitimacy of their business venture through sites such as the Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, Securities & Exchange Commission. You know exactly what your getting with disney...I did see a corporation name there today though, but did not yesterday eventhough I could still not find out more about this business even after visiting their other website.
(2) When you typed your first name, vmk character and email address within the form and clicked submit you could have left these fields completely blank. Well established developers and business forms would not have allowed you to click submit unless you input some information within these fields.
(3) Previously, I made numerous comments and posts about providing your every day email address. To many spam may not be a big deal but if you utilize that email address for business, friends, relative purposes spam can be a pretty big deal trying to decipher real email from spam email (Even with spam filters). My main concern around providing your every day email address was more towards receiving emails containing numerous potential virus threats, especially with providing your email address to an unestablished company that nobody really knows about yet. There are so many inviduals out there that perform banking, shopping, etc on their home computers and Virus threats such as malware, phishing, spyware are not to be taken lightly. Especially, For those individuals that save their passwords locally on their computer and feel they are truly safe. Is saving your password recommended, absolutely not but people still do it. People also have too much faith regarding their firewall (software/hardware), virus application, etc. Professional hackers will find ways to bypass these safety features, just like a professional car thief can steal your car no matter what security system you have within 60 seconds. Never download an appication, open attachments through email, open hyperlinks from individuals/companies/applications that your unsure of. Identify theft can be very serious, and very difficult for the victim to recover from. I have seen this too many times architecting/engineering/implementing/supporting Microsoft Exchange 5.5/2000/2003 the past 10 years. You don't have to take my words of advice, but perform your own research online regarding malware, phishing, spam, and spyware to determine how you could be affected. There are very well known virus software companies that discuss these such topics. Many believe this cannot happen to them, but just over the past month it happened to another vmk'er, and once again I have seen it numerous times in the corporate world.
(4) The "About us" section specifically stated they have been working for the past 8 months expanding their expertise in social networks and three dimensional online environments. They also created this next generation virtual world originally developed for use in business applications. When I personally reviewed their web page using such tools as "Who Is" I noticed the website was created through godaddy on April 7, 2008. It personally concerned me because this web page was generated right after the announcement of vmk's closing. Also, If people felt this could have been a successful venture why not create months if not years ago, not after an announcement of vmk closing. Something about the timing here concerned me...
(5) The person who registered this domain had it registered with their own personal information. Typcially, Many corporations who register their domains have their company names affiliated to the domain registration (disney.com has Disney Enterprises, Inc). I only used disney here since this forum revolves around disney, but I have also looked up domain names for many of my friends companies that have 5-100 employees. All my friends domains where registered under their company names. There is no reason for having a domain registered with your personal information unless its only for personal use, and instead should have it registered under your company name. This kind of goes inline with my first concern above where people can look further into that business. You know exactly what your getting with disney...
(6) Someone already stated that when they called the phone number that was registered for the website (i.e. New Mexico) that it was a number registered I believe in New Jersey. I maybe off here regarding the state, but basically the number you called wasn't in the area as the registered domain. The individual replied that they just moved states, which can look a little curious to the curious mind. Also, When they called nobody picked up the phone and there was no message regarding a business (i.e. You have reached company abc, unfortunately person xxx cannot answer phone please leave message at tone).
(7) The disboards account was created either the same day, or day after the website was created. The person may have another disboard account with numerous posts, but so many times before we have all seen someone doing trades that created an account that day, and the end result of that transaction. Just another eyebrow raiser if this business model has been around the past 8 months...Why not already have an account created and communicate your ideas way before vmk's announcement of closure?
(8) There are many forums dedicated to Virtual Magic Kingdom (disboards, vmkforums, vmkmagic, etc), and many moderators or site owners within this space have a solid background on Disney. Although these sites are all dedicated to our beloved Virtual Magic Kingdom, why wouldn't you contact these moderators/site owners about your virtual community venture. You could have provided them alpha (pre-beta) full access to your game for review before your beta release. You could have also established a conference call with the moderators/site owners of the most popular forums to better understand your business venture. This could have easily been completed and would have definitely quelled many of the concerns.
(9) The legal action that Disney may take upon this virtual world or business regarding copyright infringement. If any action is taken hopefully it will be resolved quickly, instead of a long drawn out legal battle. Long drawn out legal battles can exhaust small companies cash strapped funds, while large corporations such as Disney have plenty of cash on hand for a long drawn out battle. The concern I have is that this site maybe shutdown quickly if any legal action is taken, and never open again because of copyright infringement. Clearly, There is copyright infringement just from the images on the website. Companies like ebay removed VMK virtual items from listings because of the concern with digital copyrights, and possible lawsuits with the selling of these items since they make a sales commission. You can actually review ebay's rules and regulations around it to undertand it better. Just another example of why copyright infringement, especially digital rights are a serious concern.
(10) After registering yesterday with another email address, I haven't received any communication or response regarding they received my information. Typically, You receive responses from any online business within 24 hours even just a typical canned response. I have been waiting for well over 24 hours for any response stating my registration was received successfully. The site states that they will be communicating to their members later in may, but I have never seen where you don't receive a canned response even for a simple registration.
P.S. There where many posts on associated forum sites regarding ip tracing, which is a valid concern but really unwarrented for the most part. If your Internet Service Provider allows your ip address to be traced and provides your address location, name, phone, etc then you might want to switch Internet Service Providers. Also, This is completely against your consumer rights and legal action can be taken against the Internet Service Provider for releasing this information publicly. I wanted to squash this one before it becomes a concern...
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Hurry !! lol
